Hi...

I pop in and out of 3 fat chicks, I lurk a lot, looking for inspiration I suppose.

Anyhow I'm so ready to make a change, but I just dont know HOW to do this on my campus. First off, let me reiterate that I am a BROKE COLLEGE student and I can't even afford to go to the supermarket right now for fresh fruit. I hate apples, which is the only fruit we have on campus most of the time...and my campus is surrounded by apple orchards so it makes sense...sigh.

Anyways I feel really discouraged but I'm so ready to lose weight. My challenge to myself is to go the gym five times a week for at least 30 min every time. Its extremely difficult getting my eating habits on right within this college setting, but I'm really going to attempt it...

I do not consider myself extremely overweight but I have acid reflux and weight in my stomach area isnt good, and I wouldn't mind it as much except for the fact that now its affecting my voice again (the reflux got so bad that I developed small calluses on my throat from them about a year ago) because of all of this disgusting fried food i've been eating on campus and I can't lose my voice because I'm a singer.

I'm just SICK of being unhealthy, and I think I'm finally hitting rock bottom.

If anyone has any advice or tips for me that would be greatly appreciated. I just want to treat myself better, and feel better....and look better dammit!!!

This was a real rant...I just had to get it out lol.

Hey there.. I guess you must be eating at a cafeteria, something like that? I managed to lose a lot over two or so years living on a university campus, so I know it's possible. I did go to a large school so there were maybe more food options than are available to you, but I still think you can do it. There are ways to make even fast food reasonably healthy.
I'm sure you can get salad options, for example, as side dishes or even main dishes. Stay away from fatty dressings or other toppings that add a lot of calories like bacon or cheese.
Grilled chicken sandwiches are good options. Even hamburgers can be reasonable as long as they are not too greasy, and don't have mayo, ketchup or other high-calorie high-fat toppings (mustard is ok).
Basically eat as many veggies as you can, whole grain or at least whole wheat bread when possible, and try to get in protein. Be wary of anything fried and definitely stay away from anything deep fried.

Your diet might not be all that varied or interesting, but it IS possible with some substitutions.

Hey!

I'm pretty new here, so I may not be the most helpful, but something that has been working for me is the exercise accountability in the alternachicks thread. They have been such a great motivation and are there to keep me in line. I strongly suggest you check it out! It's the "oh, Fairest February" chat. We'd love to have you join!

I also have a problem with my eating, except I CHOOSE to eat unhealthy. It's something I'm working on, slowly but surely.

But seriously, check out alternachicks because they have been so helpful to me, and it's fun to have that support.

Good Luck With Everything!

:] Nelli

I'm in college now--and I feel you're pain. The cafeteria options here are terrible: all the entrees are fried and smothered in cheese and taste like over-salted cardboard. I only lived on campus freshman year, and during that year lived on little but the "salad" bar of wilted iceburg and canned chickpeas for some $5 a pop and frozen Amy's entrees from the campus convenience stores. And if you live in the dorms, the meal plan is mandatory, so you can't do something outrageous like make healthy meals for yourself.

You can try making apples more palattable by baking them with raisins and cinnamon, or eating them with peanut butter, or chopping them up into oatmeal. Do you have buddies to work out with? The only reason I set foot in a gym that year is because my roommate dragged me. Does your school have a physical education department that offers group exercise or sports classes for 1 credit hour? Then you'll be /forced/ to work out a couple days of the week.

Doing cardio will help with the stomach fat. I'd read up on doing high intensity interval training on a treadmill. I'll second loading up on vegetables. The brightly colored ones have the most vitamins. So, if there's a salad bar, with lettuce choices, you'd choose the dark romaine lettuce over the pale iceberg. Be careful about drinking calories. Strained, pulp free juice isn't that much better than drinking soda.

I had the same problem i would do great with the exercise but my eating habits where bad.. But you wont lose weight that way .. you'll only maintain , you dont have to be rich to eat healthy i really recommend you watch what you eat because i don't think there is any other way you'd lose weight.

I would say maybe you can try apple with something else so you can start to like it. My mom adds apple to Russian salad and it tastes pretty amazing - the Russian salad can be a meal too, except don't put Mayonnaise in it - and put some chicken breast/ham/watever meat you think is good. ^^ The recipe for Russian salad is vary, but basically it's a mixed salad with all kind of things that you can put in together so maybe u can try it ^^ I personally like it better off Mayonnaise because i just dislike it lol.

Fresh veggies might seem expensive but in a long term, I think it's rather cheaper. But in a short term, can u buy canned veggies? They aren't too bad, and as I recall, they are most of the time on sale, so maybe you can stock some of them. One can of veggie can last for 1-2 meals so they are pretty good. Fruit is more expensive but you can always choose the cheapest option because honestly, all kinds of fruits are good ^^ So just follow with the season. You don't need fruits if you have your veggies. So if you can't afford to buy fruits then it's ok, but don't forget to eat vegetable.

Try to cook your meals, do not buy them. Take your time and cook it please. It's cheaper to cook it yourself, and definitely healthier.

I have stomach fat and thighs as well. But I do 16 minutes abs and thighs and they're amazing. You can see the results after a short amount of time (~1 month) so it's worthy. You can find it online on youtube with the name of "8 minutes abs" and "8 minutes legs". For other exercises, you can try to add some strength training and cardio.

btw, you can challenge yourself for 5 times going to the gym per week. But I personally think that it might wear you down and discourage you if you can't achieve it (and it's actually quite hard unless you go to the gym in a regular basic before). So I think you can change it to 3 times per week first - and when you gain the habit of going there , then add 5 times a week won't hurt. And honestly, 3 times for 30 minutes are actually can be very good if you make good use of those amount of time.

Hope that help. Good luck.